She Said …The top spots on Penélope Cruz's Madrid
itinerary
LODGING
AC Santo Mauro, very expensive,
011-34-91-319-6900
Hotel Villa Magna, expensive,
011-34-91-587-1234
DINING
Café Hispano, moderate,
011-34-976-222-161
Casa Benigna, expensive,
011-34-91-413-3356
Casa Lucio Restaurante, moderate,
011-34-91-365-3252
Caserón de Araceli, expensive,
011-34-918-418-531
De Maria Restaurante, expensive,
011-34-91-359-65-07
NIGHTLIFE
Joy Madrid, 011-34-91-366-3733
» Museo Chicote, 011-34-91-532-6737
SHOPPING
Amarcord, 011-34-91-575-0543
Max Addict, 011-34-91-521-7240
SIGHTS
Museo National Del Prado,
011-34-91-330-2800
Parque de Atracciones,
011-34-91-463-2900
www.parquedeatracciones.es
WE SAID...
The tops on our Madrid itinerary
LODGING
Cat's Hostel, inexpensive, 011-34-91-369-2807. On a
super-small budget? Or want to relive your post-college days
backpacking across Europe? Consider this tidy year-old hostel in
handsome 18th-century digs. It was recently named the planet's top
hostel by more than 500,000 hostelworld.com voters.
Fiesta Gran Hotel Colón, moderate,
011-34-91-573-8600. Other than its convenience to the Prado,
Thyssen, and Retiro Park, what makes this place notable are the
spectacular glassworks and frescoes decorating its walls. They were
created by Manuel Ortega, whose work also brightens the city's
historic Almudena Cathedral.
DINING
Cerveceria Alemana, moderate, 011-34-91-429-7033. This
snug bar/restaurant serving up platters of Serrano ham, boiled
shrimp, fried squid, and tasty tapas is a favorite of area
bullfighters. Papa Hemingway tipped a mug or two here in his day as
well.
Chocolateria San Gines, inexpensive,
011-34-91-365-6546. Craving churros? You can pick up a good one
from almost any street vendor, but we think this venerable
chocolatería's doughy dunkers are the cream of the crop.
SHOPPING
Madrid shopping tours, 011-34-91-316-0657, www.madridshoppingtour.com.
This hours-long buyathon hits more than 50 stores around town.
Lunch is included, which means you'll have a teeny bit more room on
the credit card. Whew.
GOLF
Club de Campo Villa de Madrid, 011-34-91-550-2010. Some of
us have to skip the shopping spree (see above) to afford the greens
fees here, but this 36-hole, American-style course on 500 acres of
parkland is one of the prettiest in the country and hosts the
Madrid Open each October.
ATTRACTIONS
Faunia, 011-34-91-301-6210. Attention biz travelers:
Looking for a unique place to hold a conference in the Spanish
capital? You'd be hard-pressed to find anyplace more
un-conference-room-esque than one of the available meeting spaces
at this 459,000-square-foot nature park that authentically
re-creates each of the earth's ecosystems, from the rainforests to,
brrr, the polar caps. Naturally, it's fun for a regular ol' outing
as well.
On The Road With Penélope
Cruz
What do you take along when you travel?
I always take too many things. Clothes. Books. Scripts. Movies to
watch. A hundred things to read, and then I don't. I just carry
them around the world and don't use them.
Do you have any travel secrets or strategies?
For jet lag, I do. I used to suffer a lot from jet lag going from
here to Europe. I'd get there and sleep during the day and then be
ruined for the night. Now I try to get there on a flight that puts
me there in the afternoon, wait until nine or 10 at night, and then
fall asleep. Sleep the whole night until seven or eight. You may
have a little bit of jet lag the second day, but not as much as if
you've been asleep the whole first day. It takes discipline not to
fall asleep the first day, because when you get there you're
exhausted and you want to go to sleep at four in the afternoon. But
I keep myself awake and it really has changed my life.